The Rossi '92

Collective wisdom from the cas-l fire.
Written and rounded up by Kid Hawkins & Bull Schmitt

Bull Schmidt's instructions for an action job

To disassemble the Rossi '92
Remove the screw in the rear of the tang and pull off the stock (it may take a bit of a tug). Open the lever, and on the left-hand bolt that comes out of the receiver you will see a set screw holding a pin in place. Remove the set screw and the pin. The two locking bolts should now slide out. Now remove the top-most, forward-most screw on the left hand side of the receiver. Turn the rifle over and use a punch in the corresponding hole on the right side to drive out the pin holding the lever to the bolt. Remove the lever. Now comes a very important part not mentioned in Rossi's instructions.
Start to pull back the hammer, and look at the strut connected to the hammer that goes through the mainspring. You will notice a little hole in it. Now look at the block on the lower tang through which this arm passes, and you will see a little indentation. As you pull back the hammer, line up the hole with the indentation and stick a paper clip through the hole. This keeps the mainspring under pressure and makes re-assembly MUCH easier. Remove the big screw at the rear of the receiver on the left side that holds the hammer and lower tang (the part with the trigger) in place. Now pull the lower tang from the receiver. If it's tight, get a small
> block of wood and GENTLY tap it out. The hammer, strut and mainspring should now come out, and the bolt will slide out the back of the receiver. Be careful as you remove the bolt, because the ejector, ejector spring, and the collar that holds them in place will tend to fall out the front of the bolt. If you feel the need, you can now take out all the rest of the screws in the receiver and remove the magazine cover, cartridge guides, and cartridge carrier.
Don't mix up which screw is which.

To reassemble the Rossi '92:
First, reassemble the ejector assembly by sliding the spring over the leg of the ejector, followed by the collar. If the collar didn't come out with the ejector, get a small screwdriver or needle nosed pliers and either pop it out the front or side of the bolt, or move it within the bolt so it is properly positioned for the leg of the ejector to slide through it when the ejector is reinserted. Now point the bolt face down and slide the ejector assembly up into it, making sure the ejector is properly oriented to go in the bolt. Doing it this way prevents the spring and collar from sliding off. Keep a finger on the front of the ejector to hold it in place and do a little inspecting. The ejector face should slide in almost flush with the bolt face. The collar should butt up between the dogleg sticking up from the bottom of the bolt and the ejector spring. The ejector leg should not bind at any point inside the bolt, and the little projection on the end of the ejector leg should be behind the hole in the bolt. Now point the rifle muzzle up and slide in the bolt to its normal closed position. You might want to put a small piece of tape around the rear of the bolt to hold it in position. Slide the hammer, strut, and mainspring in place inside the receiver, and while holding them roughly in the correct position, tap the lower tang assembly into the receiver.
Remember to hold back the trigger and guide the hammer strut through its hole in the block on the lower tang while you tap. Now replace the big screw that holds the hammer and tang in place. All the holes must line up exactly right, and gently tapping on the screw with a plastic hammer can help to line things up. Remove whatever you were using to hold the mainspring in place. Check to be sure the hammer cocks and the trigger releases it, but don't snap the hammer--let it down gently. Lay the rifle upside down and put the locking lugs back in place in the receiver. There is a groove cut on each lug. This groove goes to the rear and toward the inside of the receiver for each lug. The lug with two holes goes on the side of the receiver without the loading gate. You'll have to put the lugs most of the way into the receiver through the opening for the lever then sort of rotate them into place in their channels. Now cock the hammer, remove the tape, and pull the locking lugs up until you can move the bolt. Gently slide the bolt back until you feel some resistance against the hammer, just before the hammer slides into a semi-circular cutout on the bottom of the bolt. If you look in the bottom of the rifle where the lever normally is, you should see the collar on the ejector and the dogleg on the bolt holding it in place. Hold the lever almost vertical but slightly pointed to the rear and slide it up through the bottom of the receiver and into place. If you get it right, you should now be able to close the lever and the bolt will go most of the way home. If it stops about 1/2" short, pull back the lever and bolt, rotate the ejector to the correct position, and shove it back into the bolt, then close the bolt again. If you do all this slowly and carefully, the ejector should not have moved enough that the spring and collar have gotten out of place inside the bolt. Now pull the trigger and let the hammer down to hold the bolt firmly in place, and replace the pin through the upper receiver. This pin connects the bolt to the lever. Before you replace the screw covering the hole, again pull the locking lugs out far enough to allow the bolt to move and try to work the lever. If it won't move at all, you probably didn't tap in the pin far enough. Whack it a little more (gently!) until you can work the lever part way. Cock the hammer and leave the lever part way open, and move the locking lugs around until all the holes line up and you can replace the pin holding them to the lever. Rotate the pin so you can put in the set screw. Replace the stock and screw everything down tight. Make sure it all works, and you're done!

A few tips on how to fix problems:

My Rossi has been a delight. Only problem is sometimes the last round doesn't eject cleanly. I'd appreciate any info on that one.

Been there, dealt with that. The problem (at least with mine) is that it never really ejects correctly, but until you get to the last round, you have a live round coming up on the carrier to assist with the ejection. Two thing to check: 1) See the little part that just fell out the front of the bolt? That's the ejector. A spring fits around it inside the bolt, and the collar fits behind the spring to keep it in place. Look at the front of the ejector--there are two little "feet" on the front of it that keep the empty case in place as it is extracted from the chamber. If these are rounded off, the empty can slip out from under the extractor before it it ejected. Use a dremel or a small file and make sure those feet are flat and square with the bolt face. 2) The ejector slides inside a channel in the bolt. It must slide freely within that channel, or it can't pop out hard enough to do its job. There is an "L" shaped piece pinned into the bolt that forms this channel. Check to see if the ejector is rubbing against that piece, and if necessary file down the piece just enough to let the ejector move back and forth easily.

I know with the bolt all the way closed the ejector is inside the bolt, and when you pull back the bolt the ejector turns, and that they way its supposed to work

The ejector should not come out far enough to rotate or turn. As you work the lever, the head on the lever inside the bolt bears against that troublesome little collar, compressing the spring. The ejector is pushing against the bottom half of the empty brass. When the empty clears the chamber, the spring pressure from the ejector pushes it up and out. The little lump on the end of the ejector leg should catch against the pin holding the lever to the bolt and keep the ejector from going out too far. That's why the ejector keeps trying to fall out during reassembly--that pin isn't back in place yet to hold it where it's supposed to be.

My Rossi jams with a round against the top of the chamber, or sticking vertical out of the action, when I try to shoot .38 specials.

I had the same situation with a .45 Rossi trying to get it to feed Schofields. Here's what I found: Open the action and look down at the carrier (that's the part that lifts the loaded round into position for the bolt to chamber it when you close the lever). It should have a little stud or stop on it that should just allow a normal length cartridge to pop out of the magazine and butt up against that stop. That holds the cartridge in a consistent position for the bolt to pick it up. But when you feed a shorter cartridge, like .38 special or .45 Schofield, the round doesn't go back against the stud, it just kind of rattles around on the front of the carrier. This means the balance of the cartridge is forward of where it normally would be. Now when the carrier lifts the round, it tends to throw it up almost vertical, and the round jams on the face of the barrel instead of going into the chamber. The way I
> found to fix this is to make sure the left and right cartridge guides fit exactly right. These are the parts near the top of the receiver that align the cartridge with the chamber. The loaded round should JUST BARELY slip between these guides without touching.
If there is too much clearance, it lets the round flip upwards like I described above. However, if the round almost touches the guides, it seems to keep it in place OK. If this is the problem, like it was with mine, I fixed it by replacing the right cartridge guide with a new one that happened to stick out into the receiver a little farther and thus hold the cartridge more securely. Now .45 Colt and .45 Schofield both feed fine. You can also try removing the cartridge guides and putting a small shim underneath them to make them stick out further.

So if'n yer gonna fix them winchesters, then at least talk about Rossi 92s.....mine shoots fine, etc. It is a bit stiff in the loading gate and takes extra care to push em in. Any ideas on wut to do???

There is no separate spring in the Rossi '92 that holds the loading gate cover closed. Rather, think of the cover as a leaf spring with a big end on it. The big end is the cover you see over the loading port, and the rest of the spring runs back along the inside of the receiver to where it is held in place by a screw. So what you need to do to reduce the spring tension is remove the loading gate cover and slim down the part of the spring running along the inside of the receiver, using either a Dremel or files and stones. You don't want to get it so light that the gate is not held firmly against the receiver after the rifle is loaded, because then it will interfere with the proper movement of cartridges from the magazine onto the carrier. So it's basically a cut and try proposition--take a little off, put the piece back in, see how it feels, take more off if needed.

One other thing--before you start, get a spare gate so if you mess up the original, you aren't stuck with a non-functional rifle. I think Interarms still has parts. Their phone numbers are 703-739-1582, or 703-548-1400. The parts guy is Hank Huber.

I finished the Rossi action job and boy is it slick! Got another problem. The rifle is ejecting wrong. It did this when I got it but I figured a little ejector work would cure the problem.
Sometimes a loaded round ejects with the empty case. Also when you try to chamber the first round two loaded rounds will eject and nothing goes into the chamber.

I don't think it's a problem with the ejector. The ejector only controls throwing out the empty brass, then contacts the loaded round as it pushes it forward off the carrier into the chanber. I would first check the overall lengh of your cartridges, since this is easy to do. You don't say if you are using .38's or .357's, but the Rossi's sometimes do not like to feed shorter rounds. This will more commonly cause a round to jam against the top of the chamber or stick vertically out of the action, but it can cause a round to be thrown completely clear. If you are using .38's, try it with some .357's and see if some of your problems go away.

Next, make sure the left and right cartridge guides fit exactly right. These are the parts near the top of the receiver that align the cartridge with the chamber. The loaded round should JUST BARELY slip between these guides without touching. If there is too much clearance, it lets the round flip upwards like I described above.
Hoever, if the round almost touches the guides, it seems to keep it in place OK. If this is the problem, like it was with mine, I fixed it by replacing the right cartridge guide with a new one that happened to stick out into the receiver a litttle farther and thus hold the cartridge more securely. You can also try removing the right cartridge guide and putting a small shim underneath it to make it stick out further.

The problem with two loaded rounds ejecting at once when you try to chamber the first round is a little bizzarre. Try this: make up some dummy rounds and load them into your rifle. Now open the lever far enough to see into the action, but don't push the lever forward that last little bit that makes the carrier come up. The last round loaded should be sitting on the carrier, ready to be lifted up and chambered. The round before it should be completely inside the magazine, with the little spring loaded cartridge stop at the front of the left hand cartridge guide resting against the back of the cartridge rim. This cartridge stop is what keeps the next round in the magazine from coming back too soon. It that next-to-last round is not completely in front of the stop, you'll have problems.
Possible causes: 1) the rounds are too short, preventing the last round from pushing the next-to-last round into the magazine; 2) you aren't pushing the last round far enought into the action when you load; 3) the cartridge stop is worn and needs replacing; 4) the spring on the cartridge stop is broken or worn; or 5) it's dirty.
I'm assuming you cleaned it when you did the action job, so 5) should not be a problem. If 3) or 4) were the case, you'd probably be having similar problems on other rounds besides the first. So I'd focus on 1) and 2).

And Bull Schmitt's instructions for an action job, along with a couple of suggestions from other folks:

The popular theory is that the rifles are left with rough machined surfaces and this results in a stiff operation of the action. There is some truth to this but it is not the most important factor.
However, once you get the rifle apart you will notice bright spots on the sliding/rubbing surfaces of the breech bolt and these indicate a point of friction. Examine the mating surfaces to see if there are any burrs that may be causing the these bright areas. You cannot eliminate all contact between the breech bolt and the frame - don't even think of trying. All you are looking for are rough spots on either the inside of the frame or on the sides of the breech bolt. Before any metal is removed try sliding the breech bolt back and forth by hand in the frame. If you notice tight spots or roughness in its travel try to determine what is causing it. You will probably find that slides pretty good AS IS. If so leave it alone and proceed with the spring work described below. Depending on the problem areas you may find, the fix will vary. Rough spots can be slicked up with small files, stones or some form of lapping compound. You DO NOT want to remove much metal - this is more of a polishing operation. I used some 600 grit lapping compound sold by Brownell's. If you use any kind of lapping compound be sure that you thoroughly clean everything so that no compound remains because it will continue to wear the metal as you use the rifle. If the rifle has already been used quite a bit this whole polishing process may not be necessary. If you attempt it, take your time because you cannot replace the metal once you have removed it.

One area that seems to attract people's attention is the two curved surfaces cut in the sides of the breech bolt towards the rear. When the action is operated there are two locking bolts, one on each side that slide up into place starting on these curved areas and end up sticking slightly above the breech bolt when the action is closed.
When the action is cycled slowly and this area is examined a tightness is felt as the bars begin to move along the curved surfaces and the first thing everyone wants to do is polish those surfaces. Well that ain't where the problem is! If those surfaces appear rough some polishing may be in order, but notice that if the front vertical surface of the slots that the two locking bolts are sliding in are changed the headspace of the rifle will change and could result in a dangerous situation. Care and judgement must be exercised here. If you don't feel that you want to venture here then certainly DO NOT.

Up to this point we have concentrated on reducing friction which may have been caused by rough machined surfaces rubbing against each other. It has been my experience that you can put a lot of effort into this "improvement", but the benefit is small.

The magic word is "springs"! There are two springs that are causing the majority of the stiffness in the action. Let's take the easy one first - the mainspring. It is too stiff. Cut 1 and 1/2 to 2 turns off of one end of the spring. It is spring steel and is very hard. A fine cutoff wheel on a Dremmel tool is good for this operation. Some good quality side cutters may do the job. Careful filing with the corner of a 3 sided needle file will also do the job. Begin by removing 1 and 1/2 turns first and then try the action of the rifle.
You should find that the action opens much easier and you won't have to wrap the loop with leather to protect the backs of your fingers. You can probably remove another 1/2 turn from the spring. If you remove too much, the hammer will not strike the firing pin hard enough to set of the primer.

If you do remove too much you can try to heat a few turns of the spring in a flame until they BEGIN to turn dull red and let them cool in the air. This will anneal (soften) the steel. By gently pulling on the ends of the spring the annealed area can be stretch.
Reheat the same area as before and quench in oil (motor oil at room temperature should be okay). You have now tempered the spring, but it is too hard and will break. Now just reheat the same area until the oil on the surface of the spring flashes into flame and remove the spring from the heat source. You have now tempered the spring so it will bend within reason without breaking. I suggest that you read up on working with springs if you attempt this. The Dixie Gun Works catalog and some muzzle loading books will describe the process much the same as I have. You are on your own if you venture into this area.

Let's go on to the second spring. This is the one that escapes notice and everybody smooths the heck out of the curved surfaces mentioned earlier. Examine the face of the breech bolt and you will notice a piece of metal protruding out from the surface of the breech bolt. It is kind of odd shaped and extends part way up the right hand side and part way across the bottom of the breech bolt. Push on it. Hard right? This is the ejector that causes the empty case to be ejected into the next county when you open the action.
Notice that when you are closing the action and the locking bolts are beginning to engage the curved surfaces mentioned above, the ejector has reached the back end of the barrel and is being forced flush with the front surface of the breech bolt! That compression is the resistance you feel when closing the action, not the friction of the locking bolts on the curved surfaces. Most people see the locking bolts, but don't notice the ejector. The solution here is the same as with the main spring. Inside the breech bolt is a ejector coil spring about 3/4 of an inch long. You have to remove about one to one and a half turns from it. Unfortunately you also need to heat the spring, stretch it to about its original length and re temper it as described earlier.

Reassemble the action and with a DUMMY or UNLOADED cartridge try the action. You have not altered anything that should effect the feeding of the cartridge. If you experience any problems in that area, check that you have reassembled the action correctly. If feeding is okay you should notice that the action opens and closes much easier than before. In addition, your empty cases will not end up in the next county, but should fall closer to where you are standing.

One other thing that can sometimes cause resistance in the first or last little bit of lever travel is the spring-loaded button on the lever that locks it closed. This can sometimes use some smoothing up, as well as the area on the frame where the button makes contact as it closes.

But on my rifle, the elevator sticks real bad. There is a little spring loaded plunger on the side of the elevator that seems to stick and make it tough to work the action smoothly. To fix this, remove the screws on either side of the receiver holding the elevator in place. Use a small puch to drive out the pin holding the spring loaded plunger in place. The pin comes out from bottom to top. Remember to keep a finger over the plunger to keep it from flying across the room. Polish the plunger, cut down the spring to about 4.5 coils, and lubricate the whole works with a good thick lube. Reassemble by putting the spring and plunger in place, holding the plunger so that the cutout in it lines up with the hole for the pin, and drive in the pin from top to bottom. The little ridges on one end of the pin should wind up on the top side of the carrier--in other words, the ridges hold the pin in place, so don't try to drive them all the way through the carrier.

So there you go. The collected wisdom from the cas-l fire about Rossi 92's.
Hope this is of use!

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